Last Words
by ScytheRider
Summary: One-shot. A Chozo elder must face the consequences of his actions.


_**This story was taken down and re-uploaded under my new screen name.**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Author's Note:_

_Is Samus a cold-hearted hunter, or more of the pure-hearted type? Many Metroid fanfiction writers are split on this question. This story attempts to provide a new perspective on this question.  
_

_This fanfic is really old. It was written in 2003, a little less than a year after I had played Metroid Prime. It was my first fanfic of anything, so it's not anything __**too**__ profound… but it's certainly worth sharing, I think._

_

* * *

  
_

**Last Words**

It was nightfall as the three guards escorted their prisoner through the dark halls of Brinstar's caves. But the time of day did not really matter down there… Neither sunlight nor moonlight ever found its way though the solid stone and down into the caverns that tunneled deep into the planet Zebeth.

The prisoner appeared content- he wanted nothing and was getting nothing in return. Two of the guards held onto his arms and kept a close watch on him, while the third held the end of the chain which was used to lead him and keep him captive. Together, the four of them made their way through the thick darkness and down to Brinstar's deepest parts. No one said a word during that journey- only the sounds of breathing, rattling chains, and the occasional rolling pebble could be heard.

The prisoner's name was Arrus. Before he was convicted by the high judges, he lived a normal and peaceful life as a father and a scientist. He lived with his mate and cared for his hatchlings. He was a friend to many and an enemy to few. He was widely known for his knowledge of technology and his contributions to society. In all, he was a good man. But one day, Arrus was assigned by his superiors to oversee the development of a certain human child who was rescued from a far-away planet.

--

"So this is her," Arrus said as he entered the room and laid eyes on the child for the first time. "This is the child prophesized by the oracles."

"The very one, sir Arrus," said the assistant at his side.

The child looked up at the strange bird-like figures standing over her and talking in an alien language. The fear and uncertainty in her heart bled freely though her eyes. It was only a few days since her home planet was destroyed and the Chozo took her under their wings. Arrus looked at her face, at her tangled blond hair and the healing wounds across her pale skin. He looked into her mind and saw the child-like shock and horror still fresh from her recent past.

"How old is she, do you know?" Arrus asked his assistant.

"We estimate about twenty years," he answered.

"Twenty years" the scientist repeated as he looked deep into her eyes. "A young one, indeed. The age of reason is still beyond her."

He gently extended a claw and began to stroke the child's hair

"Don't worry, young one," he said softly to her. "You've had enough terror for one childhood. You're safe now. We will protect you and nurture you, at least through these young years. I promise."

Of course, the child had no idea what the strange creature was trying to tell her. She just gazed up at the tall shadows with stars in her eyes.

"I take it that it will be our job to turn this little girl into the hunter the oracles say she will one day become." Arrus sighed.

--

The journey down that cave was not a short one. His sore legs could do nothing but trudge forward, again and again, as the merciless chains kept pulling. He heaved a heavy sigh as he was dragged through the blue caverns he knew so well. He had lived on the planet all of his life, and ever since his earliest days as a hatching he could be found trying to explore every last secret hidden within Brinstar's walls. It occurred to him that this would be the last time he would ever see these beloved caves which sprawled beneath his homeland. Soon, he and his captors would be nearing the lift from which he would never return.

--

Arrus served as one of the child's foster fathers. He watched from behind the glass as she grew in age and stature, soaking in all the knowledge and care his people had to offer her. She was quite an intelligent and curious little one, unlike any other human child of her age they had ever seen. She grew to love her caretakers even more than her forgotten parents. However, what she didn't know was that one day, she would be given a shell and forced to leave her beloved people forever.

But they raised her as one of their own, making sure not to tell her of her true destiny. For if they told her that one day she would need to leave and what was to become of her afterwards, she would have asked why. It was just in her nature to ask all the questions she could think of. It was often difficult for her elders to keep up with all of the knowledge she sought.

One day, after her training was finished, the child came home and eagerly asked a question of her elder.

"What's Norfair?" The young one asked, eagerly wanting to know about the new word she heard other children whispering about.

The elder was shocked at this. "Where did you hear of Norfair?" he demanded. "Who spoke about it?"

"I just heard them talking about it in training today," she replied innocently.

The elder was appalled, but he figured that it would be better to answer her question lest she would run off and seek her answers elsewhere…

"Norfair… is a place we don't talk about," The elder said plainly.

"But why?" The hatchling asked, her curiosity needing to be satisfied. "What is it like? What happens there?"

"My child," the elder said reluctantly, "Norfair is… a place where people go to learn."

"Just like training?" asked the young one.

"No," he explained, "It's not like training at all. You see… well, to put it this way… The training chambers are where people go to learn things that they did not know before. It is a place you go to learn new things like the ways the world works, and how the gods wish for us to act, and how to craft things with your hands, and how to do things you didn't know how to do. Norfair is a place for people to learn things they already know, but… well, things that they have forgotten are true."

--

Arrus felt a lurch in his stomach as the gears shifted and the elevator began to descend. The three guards held him tightly, for in their experience, this was the part where most of the prisoners usually lose control. But Arrus showed no signs of hostility. He was, however, torn apart on the inside. He was riding the lift which haunts the nightmares of all hatchlings at least once in their life. He was riding the lift that he had told himself that he would never ride.

After a while of standing on that decending lift, the heat began to rise up from the depths of the pit. It was the most horrifying heat Arrus had ever felt. It was relentless. It was intense. And it only grew worse as the platform continued to drop farther and farther down, silently telling him that his fate was sealed.

As the walls of the shaft rushed past the four Chozodians, the metallic roar of the platform gliding along the thin pillars began to hypnotize the prisoner. He thought back to his family and friends who were no doubt grieving for him.

--

"I'm sorry," He said softly to his crying mate as he held her close. "But the high judges will have it no other way."

"Goodbye," she whispered quietly between gasps.

It was the last thing Arrus would ever hear from his wife. He was immediately taken away from her, leaving her with no one but the floor to share her sorrow with…

--

"Well now," said one of the three guards at his side, breaking his daze. "What do you think of all this, Arrus? You haven't muttered a single word for quite a while."

"I was under the impression that it would be improper of me to speak," Arrus answered.

"It's just a bit unusual that you are not," replied the guard. "I've been down this road quite a few times during this life. I've held many hands on the way down this lift. And I must say that not one of them has been quite as calm as you."

"What were you expecting?" said another one to the first. "Were you expecting Sir Arrus to beg for mercy all along the way? Let me tell you, my brother, I've gone down here as many times as you have. But never, ever have I seen a man of innocence wrapped in chains and taken with me."

"Innocence?" said the first in slight surprise. "You were there. You saw the trial at my side, did you not? This man was accused and found guilty. Under what grounds do you call him innocent?"

"Have you ever before heard of charges such as these sending a man to Norfair? 'Defiling the mind of the young child'? Be truthful, my brother. Tell me, how can you call the calculations correct if the end result is wrong?"

"There is not much wrong with this end result," the first said solemnly.

"Is that truthfully what your heart tells you?" snapped the second one.

"No it's not what my heart tells me," confessed the first. "But sometimes the heart is in the wrong."

The second guard responded only by glaring at him with glowing eyes of disagreement. A moment of silence followed, and all four simply stared at the rushing walls all around them.

"We're about halfway down now," reported the second guard.

"Oh, the heat!" moaned Arrus suddenly. "It's unbearable even now! And you say it will get twice this intense? How is one expected to contain their soul down there?"

"I'll confess that I've wondered the same thing many times before," the first guard told him. "I have never been down here without my shell. I've never felt the heat for myself. It's indeed a strange feeling to walk among the burning flames without feeling their rage against my skin. But I hear it is absolutely humiliating."

At the comment, Arrus' heart sank lower than it ever had before.

"Don't be discouraged, Sir Arrus," the second guard said to him. "You will adjust. I promise you. You will find your way down there. Hope is a Chozodian's most prized possession. Never yield it to anything. Remember: one day, when all purpose in your life seems to be destroyed, you will return to us in the world above. And when you do, nothing can ever take you away again."

"Remember that the wisest of all the spirits are the ones whose bodies were consumed in the fires of Norfair," the first one added. "Norfair's flames can take the hardest of hearts and melt them to total humility. And it is only with a humble heart that a person can truly learn about themselves and the world around them. And those who learn the most are the wisest."

Suddenly, Arrus spoke up. "As if I wasn't humiliated enough when the Most High Judge declared his final judgment?" he asked them, obviously on the verge of tears.

"Your intentions may have been pure," said the first guard, "But you have humiliated so many others beside yourself, many more people of many other races, by telling the child what you told her!"

--

"Now listen to me!" Screeched Arrus to the child Samus. "I know what they tell you. But I cannot stand it any longer. It is not the truth. I love you, my child. I've watched over you since you were extremely young. But I must dispel those lies right now, right before your very ears."

Arrus had secretly taken a visit to the room where Samus lived and slept. The urge to talk to her was overwhelming. The two were alone, and no one would hear what Arrus would say to the child of destiny…

"Are you listening to me, my child?"

"I'm listening," the young woman replied. "But… why are you here like this? This isn't like you. You're acting like some kind of a criminal…"

Arrus spoke softly. "The time is coming soon, child," he whispered, "when they will make a shell for you and send you to fly away on your own."

"That doesn't sound bad, Father Arrus," Samus told him. "I trust you. If you want me to go somewhere, I'll go."

"Even if it means never coming back?" he asked.

"Even if it means never coming back," she said. "I will do anything you say."

"Good…" said Arrus, his voice lowering. "But what would you say if I told you we were going to send you away to protect you?"

"I don't understand what you mean… Protect me from what?"

"There will come a time not long after you leave," the loving father told the child, "when our society here will be destroyed."

--

"How have I humiliated anyone?" Arrus demanded of the first guard. "The judge even summoned Samus and told her personally that what I told her was not true. My effort was cancelled out, and now she is back where she started. As the rest of you wished. Why are you not satisfied?"

"That's beside the point, Arrus," the guard said. "You shouldn't have told her in the first place. She cannot know! We cannot allow for her to know! What can't you understand about that? Where do you think she'd end up if she knew that our race would one day be extinct from every planet of this universe? She certainly wouldn't become the hunter foretold of in the legends. Imagine it, Arrus. Decades years after her departure, She must endure unimaginable trials to save her own life as well as the lives of so many others in this universe. It's destined and foretold by the oracles. But what, Arrus, do you imagine she would think of our legacy if she knew that, in the back of her mind, we were all dead? Everything we have ever taught her, everything about right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, wisdom and ignorance, would all be for naught. Instead, she must be lead to believe that our race will never truly die, only move from place to place in this universe… So that always, she'll fight in memory of us and for the gods which will always watch over her. So that her heart will remain pure and not become corrupted. It's for the greater good of all."

The grinding gears of the elevator platform made an extremely loud clank as they were locked into place at the base of the shaft. The four had arrived at the bottom.

"And that, Arrus, is how she would have become the humiliation of the human race, as well as the countless other races that inhabit the planets floating in this universe. A warrior with strength but no morals is a warrior to be feared."

With a merciless jerk of the chain, the third guard started once again to pull Arrus across the room. They stepped off of the elevator platform.

"I never imagined in all my life that I would be sent to Norfair for telling the truth," cried Arrus. Tears dribbled down his bare feathers and sizzled away when they hit the searing hot floor.

Then, for the first time, the third guard, the chain bearer, spoke up.

"Stop. All of you," he ordered.

In surprise, Arrus and the first two guards turned to face the chain bearer.

"I wish to invoke my powers as the Final Judge," he declared.

"Final Judge?" repeated the first guard.

"Yes," he explained. "I have been given orders by the Most High judge to make the final decision regarding each Chozodian sent down here to the fiery seas. My job is to observe the convicted one while in their defensive mindset during their trial, and also during their stage of humility on the way down this elevator. And if, for any reason I believe that the punishment is not pleasing to the gods, I have been given the order and the privilege to release the convict from his chains. Now, I have watched and observed Arrus, and still, to this very moment, I am convinced that such a good-hearted man does not deserve to be burned alive here in Norfair…"

Arrus' eyes lightened up as he watched the man who held his chains in his hand.

"In my mind, there is nothing wrong with releasing this man back into Chozodia with the rest of society. He obviously means no harm to his brethren, he is not a heretic, and he seems to understand the error of his ways very well. Therefore…"

The chain bearer reached an armored claw up to his shoulder and removed a small, disc-like object from his shell. It was the key that would release Arrus from his chains. He then announced:

"I hereby release you from your chains and permanently acquit you of all punishment set forth by the High Judges… If only you obey a single condition."

"What condition is that?" Arrus pleaded, the unbearable heat of Norfair already beginning to make its home inside of his body.

"The condition that you do exactly as the Most High Judge did: tell Samus that what you said was a lie."

This drove a metal spike through the prisoner's heart. All of his brothers sensed it.

"You mean, you want me to…"

"I want you to simply tell Samus that you were in error. If you do this, in addition to promising me that you will never again speak of this subject around her, I will consider it to be more than enough contrition on your part. I don't think the flames of Norfair are necessary to teach you this lesson… Just go and personally un-do what you did."

To everyone's utter shock, Arrus hesitated. With tears in his eyes and burns beginning to form over his clawed feet (although they had not even left the elevator room yet), the man stood still and thought to himself.

--

"They didn't want you to know about it," He told Samus in a whispering, crying voice. "They wanted you to think that we'd always be here for you, until the end of time. But I must let you know the truth. Not very long from now, all of us—including me—are going to die. You will be the only survivor."

Now, Samus was a strong girl. She held back her tears quite well. But Arrus could see beyond her face and into her soul. He knew what she truly felt.

"You mean… But… I thought—you told me the Chozo would live forever!" Samus stammered in a voice that sounded at least a little bit confused.

"No one lives forever, my young child," he said to her tenderly. "It's just the way things are. We were a foolish race. We believed that, if we kept our stubborn and ignorant practices, we would live forever… but our beliefs have brought about our own ruin. The end is coming for us very fast now. We will try to run from it, hold it off with all our might, but… in the end, we will die."

Arrus' heart clenched up as he watched the young child's reaction to these words. She said nothing—only a look of emptiness, of certain devastation spread aross her face. Arrus recognized the expression—it was the same one he'd seen on her young face the first time they met. It was the feeling of terror he'd promised to dispel from her heart for the remainder of her childhood.

"They don't want me to be here, telling you this right now… When you leave, it will be the last of us you will ever see. But they don't want you to think that. They want you to think that we're always there, watching you from within the fabric of time and space. They want you to forever follow a trail we left, a trail you'd be made to think would lead back to us."

"But why?" Samus asked, as she always had, her voice starting to break.

"Why? Because they never want you to forget what you're fighting for, my child."

He wrapped his arms around his little girl and held her close. "And do you remember, little hatchling, what you are fighting for?"

"I fight so that all may live in peace," she answered. "Just like you taught me."

"Very good," the Chozo father whispered back. "And never forget that. No matter what happens to you. No matter what other people say. No matter what they will do to me, or what they will do to you, or what they will ever think of you… Never, ever forget what you are fighting for, even when you can't see how it will all end. I tell you right now, there will come a time when power itself, or wealth, or superiority will appear to be the most noble and worthy causes to fight for. But through it all, always remember that you carry Chozo blood in you and that you fight for a cause that overshadows all other causes in the universe. They think that if you knew we would die, your heart would harden, and you would become cold, and your life would become a danger to the universe, rather than one to bring peace. They think that you'd succumb to your pride and fight for power, or wealth, or superiority, rather than peace. They think that if you know we'd die, you'd reject the teachings and practices we've taught you since the beginning. This is why they didn't want you to know we'll die. But now that you know the truth, promise me you won't. Promise me you will never forget your true purpose. Promise me you will never forget!"

"I promise, father," She replied softly. "I will never forget."

"Good, good," he said. "I'm so proud of you, my little hatchling."

--

"No," Arrus said simply.

The other three's eyes went wide in shock.

"May- I ask- why?" The chain guardian and Final Judge questioned.

"I refuse to go back and un-do what I did. Do you even have any concept of why I went to her and told her in the first place? Because I am her foster-father. I felt that I would not be doing my duties as a foster father if I denied her the truth that she deserved. So, no. I will not go back and tell her I lied. Because I most certainly did not lie. We are here to raise her, not to fool her. She was brought to us so that we may set her free, not entrap her! I went there that night and I told her that, no matter what happens to us, or what happens to her, she should never forget who she truly is…"

"So are you… rejecting my condition?" The chain bearer asked in awe.

"I am, your high honor," Arrus said humbly.

"Wait! What will I tell the Most High Judge, then?" he suddenly shouted, his voice betraying a vulnerability that was not there before. "He specifically ordered me to prevent this! He—made it clear to me that you were not to be thrown into the fires of Norfair. I—I don't know what I will tell him. Because you truly do not deserve it. But how, how, brother, is this possible, that you are rejecting your last opportunity to return to your life?"

"Because I realize that maybe Norfair is truly my place in this world," he said solemnly. "I choose banishment over living among a people who see fit to lie regretlessly to the ones they supposedly love."

After a short pause, the chain guardian reached his key up to the lock on Arrus' chest. The shackles and chains all hit the floor.

"So be it," the Final Judge declared with a sigh. "By your choice, Norfair will now be your new home. Now, my fellows, do you have any last words for Arrus, the once-great scientist?"

"Yes," said the first guard. "May your time in Norfair remind you of what is true and what is not."

The other bowed at his feet, saying, "We eagerly await your return, my brother."

At that, the elevator began its ascension with one less passenger than before.


End file.
